A boring tale 20 - Into the enemy's den

"The Cloud Palace that Imperial Consort Lan was residing in is on fire!"

Upon hearing those words, left-prime minister Lan ignored all rules of the Imperial Palace and rushed towards the direction of the Imperial Harem, screaming for his daughter.

"Left-prime minister!" The Emperor called after him, but the minister has already rushed out of the morning court hall and could no longer hear him. Gesturing to the eunuch, the Emperor quickly dismissed court and rushed to the Imperial Harem.

When the Emperor has arrived, the entire Cloud Palace was ablaze. The water was reducing the flames but not enough. Cloud Palace was burnt to the ground with nothing left in a mere half an hour.

Left prime minister Lan kneeled before Cloud Palace, his entire face covered with tears and soot from the fire. He lowered his head towards the ground in a kowtow before falling faint onto the ground.

The Emperor shouted for people to get an Imperial Physician to attend to the left-prime minister and while servants were carrying him away, the Emperor gazed at the ruins of Cloud Palace.

Finally, he has found a way to resolve this situation. With this, he can proclaim that Imperial Consort Lan was ill and resting in bed when the fire broke out. The fire burnt everything, not even a corpse was left. The Emperor felt incredibly sad about his beloved departure and decided to mourn her passing by only having vegetarian meals for a year.

News of Imperial Consort Lan's passing spread like wildfire and the nobles offered their condolences to the Lan family. The eldest son of the Lan family rode a fast horseback to the capital when he heard of the news and managed to make it in time to attend the funeral held by the Imperial Palace. Left-prime minister Lan recovered from his shock and attended his daughter's funeral as well. He thanked the people who sincerely mourned for his daughter "passing" while maintaining an aloof relationship with the right-prime minister's fraction.

Left-prime minister Lan's behavior made the Emperor become angrier and angrier. Every morning in court, the left-prime minister and his fraction would pressure the Emperor to pay attention to matters regarding the people.

"The people living outside the capital are starving and living in foul conditions."

"There is a flood in the bordering town near the south, this minister requests the Emperor to provide a solution for alleviating the people's suffering."

"There is a disease outbreak which resulted in a few hundred deaths in a town called Shui Ying town up in the west. Please help the people, your Majesty."

The Emperor did not care about those living outside the capital. To him, those poor and uneducated people are of no use to him. They cannot help the kingdom prosper nor do they have the means. They are just a burden of the kingdom. Why should he spend money on those who can only leech off the kingdom without returning anything?

It is this mindset that made the Emperor specify only those people who have money, status, brains to enter the capital. Only the capital which is full of people who can help his kingdom grow shall receive help from him.

Hence, the Emperor's replies to the ministers were all vague. They promise nothing nor do they reject helping. The Emperor only said these to the minister to delay and as time passes, they will grow tired of asking him to do such useless things.

Seeing the court being like this, the right-prime minister was extremely happy. He reminded the Emperor to send for the Eighth prince to enter the capital to pay respects and also, reminded the Emperor about the cousin that is with the Eighth Prince.

"Your Majesty, it is said that she is an incredible beauty. She is also the cousin of Duke Fei and the Eighth Prince. If you marry her into your harem, you will be able to keep both of them in check." The Emperor glanced up at the right-prime minister when he heard those words.

They were currently in the Imperial private study where the Emperor does his work after morning court. After the passing of Imperial Consort Lan, the Emperor held a funeral for her to show his favor and goodwill towards the Lan family. However, none of the Lan family members have treated him warmly. Not that they have ever been warm towards the Emperor in the first place.

The Emperor is only afraid that he might lose the support of the left-prime minister and his fraction. The right-prime minister is aware of this fact and reassured the Emperor that after the passing of Imperial Consort Lan, Lord Lan has been neglecting social matters. The right-prime minister informed the Emperor that some of the ministers from the left-prime minister's fraction had informed him that they wish to join the right-prime minister's fraction.

The left-prime minister and the right-prime minister both sent a daughter into the Imperial Harem. One was favored while the other was not. Now, one is dead. Surely, they know which direction the wind will blow from now onwards and wanted to shift their support to a fraction with more benefits.

The Emperor felt relieved when he heard of this and began to foster a deep relationship with the right-prime minister. He has also begun to favor Imperial Consort Su more.

It can be said that lady luck is shining on the Su family and many nobles left the left-prime minister's fraction and flew towards the Su family. The Su family became the most powerful noble family in the capital in less than a month while the respected Lan family seemed to have fallen into ruins.

Meanwhile, life in the town outside the capital begun to improve. With the people learning new skills, Lan Xuan Yi moved on to teach children how to read and write basic characters. The Seventh Prince and Eighth Prince worked with the men on farming methods as they examined the plot of lands that they prepared for farming. The medical tent no longer needs Xuan Yi to be present to deal with common illnesses, the women trained by Xuan Yi are capable enough to hold their ground in the tent. People from other towns heard of the improvement in life in the town and they flocked towards it, hoping to gain some help as well.

Lan Xuan Yi and the Princes headed towards the surrounding towns and repeated their methods. Together, they spread knowledge and the people improved their lives after gaining those pieces of knowledge. The quality of life improved in the surrounding towns around the capital and it was done in less than a year and it was done by 3 people. It was a feat.

During the 6 months, the trio has gotten closer together. Lan Xuan Yi now addresses the Princes by their names rather than their titles and she also drops the formality in private settings. It was as if they were truly brothers and sister.

The trio finished their work within 8 months, helping the five towns that surround the capital and returned to the capital for the next phase of their plan.

Lan Xuan Yi had changed her face a little using the dark arts so that she resembles her original face a little. Other than her eyes, her entire face has changed to a gentle and shy beauty. She entered the Imperial Palace together with the Eighth Prince and the Seventh Prince on the second day she returned to the capital to pay her respects to Imperial Concubine Mother Ling, the biological mother of both Princes.

The two Princes entered the Imperial Palace first for morning court before sending a carriage for her to enter the Imperial Palace.

"Xuan-er greets Imperial Concubine Mother Ling."

Xuan Yi took Imperial Concubine Mother Ling's maternal family name and added it onto hers. Now she is the niece of Imperial Concubine Mother Ling, the cousin of the Seventh Prince Rong Ye and the Eighth Prince Rong Qi, Ling Xuan.

Imperial Concubine Mother Ling eyed the girl before her and with a gentle smile, lifted her face with her slender hands. Scanning her face, Imperial Concubine Mother Ling nodded in approval.

"Indeed, you are a beautiful child."

"Xuan-er thank Imperial Concubine Mother Ling for the praise," Ling Xuan was still kneeling as she gave her thanks with a small gentle smile.

"You could have chosen to run away but you choose to come back. Tell me, why?"

"I have to take revenge," Ling Xuan's answer was simple and straightforward.

"Not because you want to save the common people?" Imperial Concubine Mother Ling raised an eyebrow at her answer.

"I'm not that of a generous person," Ling Xuan grinned cheekily as she replied.

"You said revenge, even though you have already lost once?" Imperial Concubine Mother Ling's words hit her sore spot, but she did not show it on her face.

"Xuan-er has learned from her mistakes, I will not repeat them." Xuan Ling was resolute.

"I look forward to the show you are going to put up for me," Imperial Concubine Mother Ling patted her head softly and Ling Xuan feels like she is treating her like a child which makes her feel quite comfortable. She could kneel there forever as long as Imperial Concubine Mother Ling keeps patting her head. For some reason, it makes her feel loved. As though she was Imperial Concubine Mother Ling's daughter and she was being pampered by her mother.

This made her remember her own mother who would also pamper her to the heavens. Ling Xuan yearned for the day she could return to her family but she knows, it will have to wait.

"Xuan-er will not let Imperial Concubine Mother Ling down."